BP says Alaska field restart may take months

[kurth]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug 7 (Reuters) - BP Plc may not be able to restart its giant Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska for weeks or months if it follows through on its plans to replace both pipelines that link the field to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, company executives said on Monday.

BP began shutting the 400,000 barrels per day field on Sunday after serious corrosion and a small leak was detected in an oil transit pipeline on the eastern side of the field. The entire field is expected to be completely shut by the end of the week.

BP has been under fire for its maintenance record in Alaska since another corroded oil transit line ruptured in March, spilling at least 200,000 gallons of crude oil onto the Arctic tundra. Bob Malone, the head of BP's operations in the United States, said the company had decided to replace both pipelines due to the corrosion problems.

BP hopes to be able to find a way to partially restart Prudhoe Bay as soon as it is safe, Malone said, but he refused to commit to a timetable for restarting the field. Prudhoe Bay is the largest oil field in the United States and a key supplier of crude oil to the West Coast market...

[Atman]

1. Of course they do.

What did anyone expect...lets see, that brings us through the summer driving season, back to school driving season, the winter cold months, just about until next Spring. And then, something else special just in time for Memorial Day weekend.

[rustydog]

2. We can only hope so. this is ANOTHER excuse to keep raising

the price of gasoline in America...just in time for the mid-term elections.
Shit we Americans have been gouged so deeply by Big Oil the scars run deep and will be permanent.

[Kutjara]

3. Amazing how all these price-inflating events...

...are happening together. Amazing set of coincidences. I wonder what the next one will be.

[Skink]

4. Pretty big coincidence.

[Kutjara]

5. Unfortunately, I think the 'coincidences' will keep getting bigger. n/t

[Skink]

6. There are no big coincidences. Only coincidences.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. Well, that should take us in November, say, Election Day . . . n/t

[walkon]

8. Corrosion, maybe, but what about this

Alaska Oil Field's Failing Production Reflects U.S. Trend

Market Manipulation?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/06/AR2005060601742.html

[Kagemusha]

9. Any DU'ers thinking they should've just let the pipe burst?

Cause massive environmental damage with a big oil spill and THEN shut it down and replace the pipes?

I hope not, but reading these responses about how it's such a coincidence, well, makes me wonder.

Edit: Oh, and a market manipulation post. Gee, it couldn't possibly really be corrosion could it? BP couldn't be covering its butt after an earlier spill put 200,000 barrels all over the Alaskan wilderness. Couldn't be trying to avoid an encore. No, gotta be market manipulation.

Not saying it isn't, but I don't see why the story is quite that implausible. And an improvement over simply ignoring maintenance until something breaks.

[RufusEarl]

11. All valid points no doubt !

but the end result will be higher gas prices. This may also help for a low turn out come election day, when poorer folks want be able to afford to go to the polls.

Just imagine six, seven or even eight dollars a gal for gas come November. It may be maintenance like you said, but it's convenient maintenance.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. OK, I haven't worn my tinfoil hat in a couple days --

Am I the only one here to think that maybe this corrosion and the previous spill might actually be sabatoge, but *co will not admit to it because it shows how their incompetance has left our infrastructure at risk? We go to war in Iraq for oil, but can't protect our own pipelines.

:tinfoilhat:

[nascar55]

12. I'm with you on this

One.......man I thought I was the only one thinking that......:freak: :tinfoilhat:

[Kagemusha]

13. Corrosion isn't produced by sabotage.

And sabotage would produce blazing infernos, not small leaks. (See: Colombia, Iraq)

[slaveplanet]

15. ok, good point

Now all they have to do is show us undoctored pics of this corrosion.

because all the the pics I've seen, seem to show what appears to be good pipe, or mysterious spliced in sections up against what appears to be good pipe.

Hell it's even hard to find exact locations in these articles, or ,maps of what exactly is affected, or why aren't there valves to shut down one pipe at a time and do the work on one thing at a time?

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. Well, they are saying corrosion

and from 3500 miles away, who am I to dispute it?

OTOH, from 3500 miles away, why should I believe it? We only know what they tell us.

[jpak]

14. Better hope we don't have another Katrina or Rita this year

or a prolonged cold-snap this winter.

or a fucking war in the Persian Gulf...

[Jara sang]

17. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$